Anti-mandate rally voices concern at school division office

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

Upwards of 50 protesters gathered outside the Golden Hills School Division (GHSD) office on Feb. 4, to voice their concerns about wanting all COVID-19 mandates to be lifted.

Standing with their signs calling for the mandates to be dropped in schools, or dropped all together, protesters began gathering peacefully outside of the GHSD office just before 1 p.m. before standing alongside Hwy 1 to demonstrate. 

GHSD Superintendent of Schools, Bevan Daverne, said he was happy to listen to folks who wanted their voices heard.

“I think people do certainly have a right to share their feelings and they have a right to voice their concerns,” said Daverne. “This group here has been respectful and considerate … we have families coming in and out of the office today for support and for their children and they’ve been really good to allow that to keep happening and we haven’t had any issues with it.”

Daverne said the folks who gathered outside the school division office represent roughly two-to-three per cent of parents whose children are enrolled within the division.

As far as the ongoing COVID-19 mandates are concerned, they are decided by the province, and the schoolboard is committed to following the government’s instructions.

“What we try to do in schools – first of all, we do have to follow the mandates that are (in place). We do want our schools to be safe, we want kids to feel like they’re in a safe place, that they’re in a caring place,” said Daverne. “We are following the mandates here within our system and for most students, that means they don’t wear their mask very much.”

He clarified that students do not wear their masks while at their desks, during physical education or when they eat. Students in kindergarten through Grade 3 do not wear their masks while in school.

Daverne also emphasized that throughout the shifting mandates and health orders, the division has made their best efforts to minimize any negative impacts that may have been felt by the students and keep the in-school experience as close to normal as possible.

“We as a school system, we carry out health orders and those are provincial decisions. So, if they are looking for a shift in that, they really should inform the decision maker, which is not us,” said Daverne. 

“As a school system, my personal opinions don’t matter. They are not relevant. What matters is that we are following the mandates that we have, that we are following the health orders that exist, which we are.” 

The school division will continue to reinforce mandates and decisions that are handed down to them by the provincial government.

Some protesters asked Daverne directly whether he would, in an official capacity, stand with them and voice concerns over the provincial mandates. 

“I think that they very much want to hear from anyone that they would talk to that, that person agrees with them personally and agrees with what they would like to see happen,” said Daverne. “We also want to be, when we’re asked, representative for what the opinions are of parents. Certainly, this group feels very strongly, other groups might feel a little differently.”

Demonstrators at the school division who were asked about the protest declined to comment on record.